Good Bye ...

2020 EDITED to ADD: This is no longer an active blog but, for homeschool families it still has some great posts about homeschooling life! Also, to see what our family looks like these days - take at look at my Instagram feed on the right side of the blog.

This blog was begun in 2008 to chronicle our homeschool journey ... as the kids have gotten older and our homeschooling has become more independent and with the time commitments to the kids' activities - mainly travel baseball and a new ballet company for the girls, it is time to step away from blogging. 

Thank you to everyone who read, commented and followed along with our journey over the last six years. I may blog again at some point but, for now it is time to take a break. You can still follow along on Instagram, where I post at least a few times every week.

Wishing you all the best!

Wordless Wednesday

                 

Our summer fun continues ...

Summer Plans {2014}

Hard to believe how much we always cram into those last few weeks before summer begins ... we've done baseball games, a dance competition, dance recital, and testing. So nice to have a breather for a few weeks before our summer plans kick into gear.

On tap this summer ...

• Classical Conversations Practicum/Tutor Training/Camp for the kids and I
• Homeschool Group Book Sale
• VBS at our church
• 4th of July trip to Asheville, North Carolina
• 90 hours of a ballet summer intensive for Lexi and Ava Mae
• Baseball Private Coaching for Devin
• Lots of swimming and fun with friends!
• Camp Winshape for Devin
• Two different Camp Crafty Girls days at my home
• Hosting a foreign exchange student from France in July

After all that fun, I have a feeling we will look forward to heading back to school at the end of August! Speaking of school ... we aren't putting our studies aside for the whole summer. Devin and Lexi are working on getting all of their reading done, for the 2014-2015 school year. We are also going to start working on Latin vocabulary - doesn't that sound like fun! Ava Mae will work on becoming a more fluent reader, so lots of reading on tap for her.

The kids can't wait to get to our pool ... I like to wait until at least Memorial Day. With the cold winter we had I cannot imagine our pool warming up before June. 

Dancing to Compete {May 2014}

After a year or two of my daughter asking when she could take part in a dance competition we decided to test the waters this year. We chose to enter the first competition with a duet number with a close friend. After extra private lessons with a choreographer and hours and hours of  independent practice a few weeks ago the girls took the stage at KAR's Regional Dance Competition.

Their hard work and dedication paid off with not only a Top First place in their division for lyrical dance but, a third place high score in their age division, and a special talent award - which included an invitation to attend a master's class with the Rockettes in New York City.

So proud of the determination and hard work that went into the preparation - we would have just been happy with the experience.

Pictured above ~ The girls gasped when they saw this competition stage and lighting ... it was so fun to watch as they experienced this opportunity for the first time!

Pictured above ~ Lexi and her good friend, Ellie, with their dance choreographer and dance school director. Pictured below ~ the girls performed their award winning duet in our dance school's recital last weekend.

Going Ons {April 2014}

Wow ... another month has just flown by. I wish I had more time to keep my blog updated but, there are just not enough hours in the day! So, I have decided my goal will be to update once a month with a review of our "going ons". {Pictured above - spring has sprung!}

{Ballet picture week ... so glad this is done and behind us}

{We got a new black kitty named Binx}

{Our Classical Conversations school wrapped up with a fun dinner and awards night}

{The girls performed as part of a trio in their choir spring musical}

{A quick trip to Asheville to spend Easter with my family}

{Lexi performed a short dance piece for her GA's skit night}

{Devin enjoyed some great baseball games with his middle school team}

{Crunch time for these two girls - as they spent countless hours rehearsing for their dance competition}

{Lexi graduated from GA's ... on to middle school}

Disney {2014}

Our Walt Disney World last minute vacation did not disappoint ... beautiful weather, amazing hotel room with a spectacular view of Epcot and firework. We could not have asked for a more wonderful, last minute, time away. It was a great time in warm weather after a crazy winter!

{View from hotel room}

{My husband and son were able to take in a Braves Spring Training game}

{Fish n Chips in Great Britain in Epcot}

Going Ons {March 2014}

Here's what we have been up to ...

Spring means our lives seem to get crazier and crazier ... it gets worse as the kids get older and we have more commitments. 

Wish I had more time to blog everything we do but, there are just never enough hours in the day. So a quick look into our going ons ...

Ava Mae donated 12 inches of her hair to Locks of Love ... she loves the new hairstyle and I am finally getting how to create a professional looking ballet bun with little hair to work with.

Devin got braces ... he really wanted to wait until he was old enough for Invisaligns but, we convinced him to go ahead and get it over with. He seems to be adjusting well. Two in braces ... so glad Ava Mae is still a few years off. Braces are EXPENSIVE!

Lexi is working so hard with her very good friend and dance bud, Ellie, to prepare for their duo in an upcoming dance competition. They are learning lots ... most importantly ... they are finding out the hard work and dedication that must go in to preparing for a dance competition. It is nothing like the small snippet they see on Dance Moms.

In other news, our yard is finally back to good condition - lots of clean up from the horrible storm that literally blew through a few weeks ago. The insurance adjuster finally made it out and our fence has been repaired!

Classical Conversations (our hybrid school) is finishing up and the kids are working hard on their 24 weeks of memory work. We are proofing now ... Devin is going for Memory Master and the girls are going for Jr. Memory Master. We are happy to be returning to CC again next year. Devin and Lexi will move into Challenge A. Ava Mae will continue in Foundations and I look forward to tutoring the Masters class.

And, surprise, we are wrapping up our month by heading off on an early Spring Break to Walt Disney World. {My husband's boss gave up his spot, at a conference in Disney} Looking forward to some spring like temps in Florida and spending a few days in the parks.

Father Daughter Dance {2014}

Hard to believe it has been five years since the first Father Daughter Dance - Lexi and Ava Mae attended. The girls look forward to this night all year. They love getting the opportunity to dance the night away with their Dad and friends.

We started the day early at a friend's home doing hair and makeup.

Then it was off to the salon for nails. Such a fun time!

Butcher Paper Covered School Table

I don't know why I did not think of this sooner ... last fall we covered our dining room table {which for the most part doubles as our school table} with butcher paper for Ava Mae's art party. The kids loved it so much we decided to leave it in place. They loved using the butcher paper during school to work out math problems or sketch out an idea for a paper they were writing. Their friends loved doodling and writing messages to the kids when they were over. I wish I would have taken a picture of it before I removed the paper and decided to put down a new sheet of butcher paper.

So, I figure this is my big homeschool idea for the year ... not only is it protecting our dining room table {when we have a need to use the dining room table I just throw a table cloth over the butcher paper} but, I don't have lots of scrap paper laying around at the end of the school day. I may even save a section of this butcher paper when I take it off the table in a month or two. I figure it would be a nice addition to my art journal this year ... more to come on that in a separate post.

Valentine's Day Crafting

Here are just a few of our Valentine's Day crafting projects ... I found some cute stamp sets at Papertrey Ink and I stamped the two cards featured here. The one above was just a test run for a card for my niece and nephew in Florida. All during Thanksgiving, my adorable 2 year old nephew would call Lexi "Foxy". I think it had to do with the fact that she kept singing the song "What Does the Fox Say" - over and over to my 1 year old niece. 

Pictured below is the card I stamped for my husband. With all the winter weather we have had plenty of time to work on crafting! And, I have really enjoyed stamping again.

Pictured below is the Valentine's Day "card" for Lexi's classmates at CC. Owls are so in right now and we found this adorable idea on Pinterest. It is just a cardboard toilet paper tube - covered in scrapbook paper and dressed up to look like an owl. We stuffed them with treats and sealed them up at the bottom with Washi tape. Unfortunately, school was called off due to inclement weather ... so we will look forward to distributing these next week at school.

Another Snow Day {2014}

Guess what ... we had snow again in Atlanta. Big surprise, right? So glad we homeschool ... can't imagine if we attended a public or private school and had missed all these days. At least with homeschooling, we can play in the snow and then when everyone is freezing - head inside to dethaw and do some work.